Fiorenzo Omenetto: Silk, the ancient material of the future

Translator: Lenka Tušar Reviewer: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

Thank you.

Hvala.

I'm thrilled to be here.

Zelo sem vesel, da sem tu.

I'm going to talk about a new, old material

Govoril bom o novi stari snovi,

that still continues to amaze us,

ki nas še vedno preseneča

and that might impact the way we think

in hkrati lahko vpliva na naš način razmišljanja o

about material science, high technology --

znanosti o materialih in visoki tehnologiji,

and maybe, along the way,

obenem pa prispeva k medicini,

also do some stuff for medicine and for global health and help reforestation.

svetovnemu zdravju in pogozdovanju.

So that's kind of a bold statement.

To je precej drzna trditev.

I'll tell you a little bit more.

Naj vam pojasnim.

This material actually has some traits that make it seem almost too good to be true.

Nekatere značilnosti te snovi so skoraj predobre, da bi bile resnične.

It's sustainable; it's a sustainable material

Je obstojna, za obdelavo potrebuje le

that is processed all in water and at room temperature --

vodo in sobno temperaturo,

and is biodegradable with a clock,

lahko jo programiramo za biološki razkroj,

so you can watch it dissolve instantaneously in a glass of water

tako lahko opazujete, kako se razgradi v kozarcu vode

or have it stable for years.

ali pa jo hranite leta dolgo.

It's edible; it's implantable in the human body

Je užitna, lahko se jo vstavi v človeško telo,

without causing any immune response.

ne da bi se imunski sistem na to odzval.

It actually gets reintegrated in the body.

Pravzaprav se v telo uspešno vključi.

And it's technological,

Prav tako je tehnološko uporabna,

so it can do things like microelectronics,

na primer v mikroelektroniki

and maybe photonics do.

ali celo fotoniki.

And the material

Ta snov

looks something like this.

je videti nekako tako.

In fact, this material you see is clear and transparent.

Kar vidite, je brezbarvno in prozorno.

The components of this material are just water and protein.

Snov pa sestavljajo le voda in beljakovine.

So this material is silk.

Ta snov je svila.

So it's kind of different

Je nekoliko drugačna od tiste,

from what we're used to thinking about silk.

ki si jo ponavadi predstavljamo.

So the question is, how do you reinvent something

Vprašanje je torej, kako ponovno odkriti nekaj,

that has been around for five millennia?

kar je v uporabi že pet tisočletij?

The process of discovery, generally, is inspired by nature.

Postopek odkrivanja je v splošnem navdahnjen z naravo.

And so we marvel at silk worms --

Nas so navdušile sviloprejke,

the silk worm you see here spinning its fiber.

ta na sliki prede svileno nit.

The silk worm does a remarkable thing:

Te gosenice delajo nekaj izjemnega:

it uses these two ingredients, protein and water,

z le dvema sestavinama, beljakovinami in vodo

that are in its gland,

v svojih žlezah proizvajajo snov,

to make a material that is exceptionally tough for protection --

ki je izjemno odporna kot zaščita

so comparable to technical fibers

in tako primerljiva s tehničnimi vlakni,

like Kevlar.

kot so vlakna kevlar.

And so in the reverse engineering process

Šli smo v obratni smeri postopka,

that we know about,

kot ga poznamo

and that we're familiar with,

in smo ga vajeni

for the textile industry,

v tekstilni industriji,

the textile industry goes and unwinds the cocoon

namreč odvijanja kokonov

and then weaves glamorous things.

in tkanja čudovitih stvari.

We want to know how you go from water and protein

Zanima nas, kako iz vode in beljakovin

to this liquid Kevlar, to this natural Kevlar.

proizvesti ta tekoča, naravna kevlar vlakna.

So the insight

Spoznavamo torej,

is how do you actually reverse engineer this

kakšen je obraten postopek nastajanja te snovi,

and go from cocoon to gland

kakšna je pot od kokona do žleze

and get water and protein that is your starting material.

in začetnih dveh gradnikov, vode in beljakovin.

And this is an insight

To raziskovanje se je začelo

that came, about two decades ago,

pred dvema desetletjema z osebo,

from a person that I'm very fortunate to work with,

s katero sem imel čast sodelovati,

David Kaplan.

Davidom Kaplanom.

And so we get this starting material.

Prišla sva do začetne snovi,

And so this starting material is back to the basic building block.

ki predstavlja osnovni gradnik.

And then we use this to do a variety of things --

Z njo sva potem ustvarila mnogo stvari,

like, for example, this film.

tudi tak film.

And we take advantage of something that is very simple.

Uporabila sva nekaj zelo preprostega.

The recipe to make those films

Pri ustvarjanju takih filmov

is to take advantage of the fact

se poslužujemo dejstva,

that proteins are extremely smart at what they do.

da beljakovine delujejo izjemno pametno.

They find their way to self-assemble.

Najdejo način samozdruževanja.

So the recipe is simple: you take the silk solution, you pour it,

Recept je torej preprost: raztopino svile zlijemo

and you wait for the protein to self-assemble.

in počakamo, da se beljakovine same združijo.

And then you detach the protein and you get this film,

Ko jih ločimo od površine, dobimo tak film,

as the proteins find each other as the water evaporates.

saj se združijo, ko voda izhlapi.

But I mentioned that the film is also technological.

Omenil sem, da je to tudi tehnološka snov.

And so what does that mean?

Kaj to pomeni?

It means that you can interface it

Pomeni, da jo lahko uporabite

with some of the things that are typical of technology,

v tipično tehnološke namene,

like microelectronics and nanoscale technology.

na primer v mikrelektroniki in nanotehnologiji.

And the image of the DVD here

DVD na sliki

is just to illustrate a point

le ponazarja,

that silk follows very subtle topographies of the surface,

da svila sledi komaj zaznavnim sledem na površini,

which means that it can replicate features on the nanoscale.

kar pomeni, da lahko posnema tudi obrise v nano obsegu.

So it would be able to replicate the information

Torej bi lahko kopirala

that is on the DVD.

podatke na DVD-ju.

And we can store information that's film with water and protein.

Podatke lahko shranimo tudi na filmu iz vode in beljakovin.

So we tried something out, and we wrote a message in a piece of silk,

Poskusili smo napisati sporočilo na kos svile,

which is right here, and the message is over there.

ki ga imam tu, na njem pa je sporočilo.

And much like in the DVD, you can read it out optically.

Tako kot pri DVD-ju, ga lahko optično odčitate.

And this requires a stable hand,

To zahteva mirno roko,

so this is why I decided to do it onstage in front of a thousand people.

zato sem se to odločil narediti na odru pred tisočglavo množico.

So let me see.

Poskusimo.

So as you see the film go in transparently through there,

Kot vidite, posvetimo skozi prozorno plast

and then ...

in ...

(Applause)

(Aplavz)

And the most remarkable feat

Pri tem je najbolj neverjetno to,

is that my hand actually stayed still long enough to do that.

da sem ohranil dovolj mirno roko, da sem to prikazal.

So once you have these attributes

Ko torej poznate

of this material,

lastnosti te snovi,

then you can do a lot of things.

lahko naredite veliko stvari.

It's actually not limited to films.

Uporaba ni omejena le na film.

And so the material can assume a lot of formats.

Snov lahko zavzame mnogo oblik.

And then you go a little crazy, and so you do various optical components

Nato dobite nekaj norih idej in ustvarite

or you do microprism arrays,

razne optične komponente ali mikroprizme,

like the reflective tape that you have on your running shoes.

kot so v odsevnem traku na tekaških copatih.

Or you can do beautiful things

Lahko ustvarite čudovite stvari,

that, if the camera can capture, you can make.

ki, če lahko kamera približa, nastanejo v svili.

You can add a third dimensionality to the film.

Prozorni plasti lahko dodate tretjo dimenzijo.

And if the angle is right,

Ob pravem kotu lahko dobesedno

you can actually see a hologram appear in this film of silk.

vidite hologram na tem svilenem filmu.

But you can do other things.

Naredite pa lahko še marsikaj drugega.

You can imagine that then maybe you can use a pure protein to guide light,

Lahko si zamislite, da lahko s čisto beljakovino usmerjate svetlobo,

and so we've made optical fibers.

in tako smo ustvarili optična vlakna.

But silk is versatile and it goes beyond optics.

Svila je vsestranska in njena uporaba presega optiko.

And you can think of different formats.

Lahko si zamislite različne oblike in velikosti.

So for instance, if you're afraid of going to the doctor and getting stuck with a needle,

Če se, na primer, pri zdravniku bojite vboda igle,

we do microneedle arrays.

ustvarimo vrsto mikroigel.

What you see there on the screen is a human hair

Na sliki vidite človeški las

superimposed on the needle that's made of silk --

poleg igle, narejene iz svile,

just to give you a sense of size.

da dobite občutek velikosti.

You can do bigger things.

Lahko pa ustvarite tudi večje stvari.

You can do gears and nuts and bolts --

To so lahko zobniki, matice in vijaki,

that you can buy at Whole Foods.

ki jih kupite v trgovini z naravnimi in organskimi izdelki.

And the gears work in water as well.

Taki zobniki delujejo tudi v vodi.

So you think of alternative mechanical parts.

To so torej alternativni strojni deli.

And maybe you can use that liquid Kevlar if you need something strong

Ta tekoča kevlar vlakna lahko uporabite za nekaj močnega,

to replace peripheral veins, for example,

če potrebujete novo stransko žilo, na primer,

or maybe an entire bone.

ali pa kar celo kost.

And so you have here a little example

Tu imamo tudi primer

of a small skull --

majhne lobanje,

what we call mini Yorick.

pravimo ji mali Yorick.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But you can do things like cups, for example,

Iz svile lahko naredite tudi lončke.

and so, if you add a little bit of gold, if you add a little bit of semiconductors

In če ji dodate nekaj zlata ali drugih polprevodnikov,

you could do sensors that stick on the surfaces of foods.

lahko naredite senzorje, ki jih prilepite na živila.

You can do electronic pieces

Naredite lahko elektronske dele,

that fold and wrap.

ki se pregibajo in zvijajo.

Or if you're fashion forward, some silk LED tattoos.

Za modno ozaveščene pa so tu LED tatuji na svili.

So there's versatility, as you see,

Svila je torej

in the material formats,

široko uporabna

that you can do with silk.

v materialnih oblikah.

But there are still some unique traits.

Ima pa še druge enkratne lastnosti.

I mean, why would you want to do all these things for real?

Zakaj bi namreč želeli vse te stvari uresničiti?

I mentioned it briefly at the beginning;

Na začetku sem omenil razlog:

the protein is biodegradable and biocompatible.

beljakovine so biološko razgradljive in združljive.

And you see here a picture of a tissue section.

Tu vidite del tkiva.

And so what does that mean, that it's biodegradable and biocompatible?

Kaj sta biološka razgradljivost in združljivost?

You can implant it in the body without needing to retrieve what is implanted.

Svilo lahko vstavite v telo, ne da bi jo bilo potrebno odstranjevati.

Which means that all the devices that you've seen before and all the formats,

To pomeni, da se vsi predmeti različnih oblik, ki ste jih videli,

in principle, can be implanted and disappear.

načeloma lahko vgradijo v telo in izginejo.

And what you see there in that tissue section,

V tem delu tkiva

in fact, is you see that reflector tape.

pravzaprav vidite odsevni trak.

So, much like you're seen at night by a car,

Tako kot vas ponoči opazi voznik avtomobila,

then the idea is that you can see, if you illuminate tissue,

lahko tudi pri osvetljenem tkivu

you can see deeper parts of tissue

vidimo njegove globlje delce,

because there is that reflective tape there that is made out of silk.

saj je ta odsevni trak narejen iz svile.

And you see there, it gets reintegrated in tissue.

Kot vidite, se lepo vklopi v tkivo.

And reintegration in the human body

Možnost vnosa v človeško telo

is not the only thing,

pa ni edina,

but reintegration in the environment is important.

pomembna je tudi združljivost z okoljem.

So you have a clock, you have protein,

Beljakovino programiramo za razkroj,

and now a silk cup like this

zato lahko tak svilen kozarec

can be thrown away without guilt --

odvržemo brez slabe vesti,

(Applause)

(Aplavz)

unlike the polystyrene cups

za razliko od plastičnih, ki na žalost

that unfortunately fill our landfills everyday.

dnevno polnijo odlagališča odpadkov.

It's edible,

Svila je tudi užitna, zato lahko ustvarimo

so you can do smart packaging around food

pametno embalažo za živila,

that you can cook with the food.

ki se skuha skupaj z njimi.

It doesn't taste good,

Ni pa najboljšega okusa,

so I'm going to need some help with that.

za kar bom še potreboval pomoč.

But probably the most remarkable thing is that it comes full circle.

Verjetno najbolj izjemno pri tem je, da gre za sklenjen krog.

Silk, during its self-assembly process,

Svila se v postopku samoporazdelitve beljakovin

acts like a cocoon for biological matter.

obnaša kot kokon za biološko snov.

And so if you change the recipe,

Če torej spremenite recept

and you add things when you pour --

in pri vlivanju k svileni raztopini

so you add things to your liquid silk solution --

vmešate dodatke,

where these things are enzymes

kot so encimi,

or antibodies or vaccines,

protitelesa ali cepiva,

the self-assembly process

postopek samorazporeditve

preserves the biological function of these dopants.

ohrani biološko funkcijo teh vnešenih dopantov.

So it makes the materials environmentally active

Snovi torej naredi okoljsko aktivne

and interactive.

in interaktivne.

So that screw that you thought about beforehand

Z vijakom, kot smo ga videli prej,

can actually be used

lahko privijemo skupaj

to screw a bone together -- a fractured bone together --

zlomljeno kost,

and deliver drugs at the same,

hkrati pa še dodamo zdravila

while your bone is healing, for example.

za čas okrevanja in celjenja.

Or you could put drugs in your wallet and not in your fridge.

Zdravila lahko tudi hranimo v denarnici in ne v hladilniku.

So we've made a silk card

Naredili smo svileno kartico

with penicillin in it.

z vsebovanim penicilinom.

And we stored penicillin at 60 degrees C,

Dva meseca smo jo

so 140 degrees Fahrenheit,

hranili pri 60°C in ugotovili,

for two months without loss of efficacy of the penicillin.

da ne pride do zmanjšane učinkovitosti penicilina.

And so that could be ---

To bi lahko torej bila

(Applause)

(Aplavz)

that could be potentially a good alternative

dobra alternativa hladilnim sistemom

to solar powered refrigerated camels. (Laughter)

na sončne celice v kameljem transportu. (Smeh)

And of course, there's no use in storage if you can't use [it].

Seveda pa shranjevanje nima smisla, če stvar ni uporabna.

And so there is this other unique material trait

Tu je še ena edinstvena lastnost te snovi,

that these materials have, that they're programmably degradable.

namreč možnost programiranega razkroja.

And so what you see there is the difference.

Tu vidimo razliko.

In the top, you have a film that has been programmed not to degrade,

Na vrhu je prevleka, programirana tako, da se ne razgradi.

and in the bottom, a film that has been programmed to degrade in water.

Na dnu pa prevleka, programirana za razkroj v vodi.

And what you see is that the film on the bottom

Vidite, kako spodnja svilena prevleka

releases what is inside it.

sprosti dodatke, ki jih vsebuje.

So it allows for the recovery of what we've stored before.

Omogoča torej aktivacijo shranjene snovi

And so this allows for a controlled delivery of drugs

in s tem nadzorovan vnos zdravil,

and for reintegration in the environment

hkrati pa razgradljivost v okolju,

in all of these formats that you've seen.

in sicer v vseh oblikah, ki ste jih tu videli.

So the thread of discovery that we have really is a thread.

Rdeča nit odkritja je v resnici nit.

We're impassioned with this idea that whatever you want to do,

Navdušuje nas misel, da karkoli želite ustvariti,

whether you want to replace a vein or a bone,

nadomestiti žilo ali kost,

or maybe be more sustainable in microelectronics,

prispevati k trajnosti mikroelektronike,

perhaps drink a coffee in a cup

piti kavo iz lončka

and throw it away without guilt,

in ga brez slabe vesti odvreči,

maybe carry your drugs in your pocket,

v žepu nositi zdravila, ki jih potrebujete,

deliver them inside your body

jih zaužiti

or deliver them across the desert,

ali prenašati čez puščavo,

the answer may be in a thread of silk.

lahko odgovor najdete v svileni niti.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)